Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 5 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Michigan Milk Producers and Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold) who have contracts to sell 101,413 pounds (46 metric tons) of Cheddar and Gouda cheese and 4.133 million pounds (1,875 metric tons) of whole milk powder to customers in Asia, Central and South America. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from February through July 2016.

So far this year, CWT has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 4.389 million pounds of cheese, 2.866 million pounds of butter and 5.392 million pounds of whole milk powder to eleven countries on five continents. The sales are the equivalent of 144.365 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program, in the long-term, helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the U.S. farm milk that produces them. This, in turn, positively impacts all U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price.

The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT will pay export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.

The Export Assistance program is funded by voluntary contributions from dairy cooperatives and individual dairy farmers. The money raised by their investment is being used to strengthen and stabilize the dairy farmers’ milk prices and margins.